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A. P. CRAWFORD SHOE Filed July 5. 1924 Nov. 9 1926. 1,606,018

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Patented Nov. 9, 1926.

UNITED STATES ALFRED P. CRAWFORD, OF MARLBORO, MASSACHUSETTS.

SHOE.

Application filed July 5, 1924. Serial No. 724,217.

This invention relates to shoes and particularly to shoes having leather or canvas uppers and rubber of other gum like soles, and its object is to provide a novel and improved shoe having the natural advantages flowing from the use of the above materials, and particularly a novel means for more securely fastening the sole to the upper, and having also the improved appearance of such a shoe.

In the drawing of one embodiment of my invention selected for-description and illustration,

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of my novel shoe;

Fig. 2, a cross vertical section on the line 22, Fig. 1;

Fig. 3, a plan of the novel welt;

Fig. 4, a side or edge View of the welt; and

Fig. 5, an end view of the same.

Referring first to Figs. 1, 2, my novel shoe is shown as of the Well known Goodyear welt type, comprising an upper 1, of leather or canvas or other desired material, lining 2,

v insole 3 of leather or suitable material, with the lip 4., welt 5, filling 6 and outsole 7. It will be noted that the welt is of multiply construction, the top or upper ply 5 being of leather or other suitable material with a backing of gum, as rubber 8, the two plies being secured by stitches 9.

In assembling the several parts, the um i or rubber backing or ply 8 of the we t is first secured to the leather ply 5 by cementing and then they are preferably stitched. The cementing is only a temporary ex edient to hold the parts through the stitc ing operation, as they cannot be permanently aild so satisfactorily secured by cementing a one. 7

The two-ply welt is then stitched to the upper 1 and its lining 2, and the lip 4: of the insole 3 in the usua manner. The filler 6 preferably of gum, as rubber. is then applied. Finally the rubber or other gum outsole is cemented to the filler 6 and rubber layer 8 of the welt, the adjacent edges pressed closely together, bompleting the shoe.

I am aware that it is common to construct a shoe with an all leather welt and a rubber sole, the latter being stitched'to the former around the outer edges. This construction is faulty and unsatisfactory, however, be-

cause as soon as the stitches wear off on the lower face or'tread of the outsole, the sole separates from the welt. These two members cannot be held together securely by the waxed thread of the stitches, known as wax pegs, as in the case of a shoe with a leather Welt and sole, as the wax will not adhere to the rubber sole, as it does to the leather sole. It is common also to use a rubber welt and a rubber sole cemented together, andtial; in fact looks as well as the best all leather shoe, and it preserves its form and wears better about the toe. It is the most substantial form of construction I know of. The rubber sole is permanently secured to the rubber layer of the welt and the filler by cement, as by the use of a suitable solvent on opposed faces of the sole and welt, ensuring a tight and permanent joint. The rubber filler supplements the sole so that it has a permanent anchorage all over its surface and if the sole wears through on the tread, it does not show, the rubber filler resembling the sole so closely and being prace tically part of the outsole.

This construction is particularly adapted for the use of crepe rubber or other gum so much in. vogue at the present time.. The crepe rubber sole is very long lived, and the permanent joint effected with the welt an'd filler by cementing, and stitched connection with the upper and insole, ensures a. most satisfactory and serviceable construction. The rubber filler, and rubber ply of the welt when stitched tightly to the upper and insole make a shoe much more resistant to water than the ordinary leather shoe even if treated to waterproof it.

Furthermore the shoe is more flexible and the connection between the sole, welt and upper stronger because the yielding gum outsole and welt ply permit a flexibility at Furthermore, it presents a where the strain frequently breaks the stitches.

My invention is not limited to the single embodiment thereof shown, and I claim:

A welt for boots and shoes consisting of a narrow two ply strip of leather and latex with the latex ply juxtaposed on the flesh side of the leather ply in a, firm interlocking adherent union with the fibrous surface thereof, the said welt functioning the same 10 as an all leather welt when stitched to a sole anld adherent without stitching to a rubber so e.

In testimony whereof, I have signed my name to this specification.

ALFRED P. CRAWFORD. 

